Indonesia ATL: The Presidency of Try Sutrisno (1997-)

205: Changing Calculations
6th November 2002:
Minister of Finance Mar’ie Muhammad and Junior Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto met with President Try Sutrisno today, the latter having returned from the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia the previous day. In their joint press conference, Mar’ie and Bambang said that they and the President discussed budget preparations. The Draft Budget being due to be delivered to the DPR in January 2003. Mar’ie explained the things that need to be factored into the Draft Budget as a result of ASEAN’s agreement to the resumption of AFTA namely a series to policies to better prepare businesses, farmers, and SMEs to face increased competition.

The President held a fast breaking at the Presidential Palace attended state officials, cabinet ministers, and heads of agencies. The fasting month of Ramadan having just begun.

7th November 2002:
At the Presidential Palace, the President, Vice President JB Sumarlin, and Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti held a gathering with the nation’s top businessmen which also included Chairman of KADIN Aburizal Bakrie, Chairman of Apindo Sofyan Wanandi, and Chairman of HIPMI Garibaldi Thohir.

In his speech, the President said that the government will not leave Indonesian businesses whether large, medium or small “hanging” and that steps will be taken to prepare them as best as possible for the resumption of AFTA. The President said that the resumption of AFTA will be “a challenge which the nation needs to rise up and meet” with the private sector having to become more competitive and efficient while the government needs to facilitate the private sector so that it can become more competitive and efficient.

The President took questions one of which, perhaps rather mischievously, asked whether Indonesia’s participation in the resumption of AFTA will continue “regardless of what happens in the 2003 MPR General Session”.

“You’d have to ask those who aspire to sit where I’m sitting what they plan on doing” replied the President “I would tell them it’s up to them what they want to do with the resumption of AFTA if things go their way but I would caution them that a lot is at stake if they were to try to change things or even withdraw from AFTA and the first and foremost thing at stake will be our nation’s leadership in the region.”

Speaking at the fast breaking event at the PKPB’s Headquarters, Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto said that she questions the notion that after the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia that Indonesia is now the leader in the region, pointing that Indonesia has “lost” Myanmar. Tutut said that if one cannot be the leader over all, they are not a true leader.

8th November 2002:
In an event at the Presidential Palace, the President granted National Hero status to Prince Paku Alam VIII who, together with Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, declared their support for the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia. Accepting the government’s recognition on Paku Alam VIII’s behalf is his son Lieutenant Governor of Yogyakarta Prince Paku Alam IX.

At a press conference at the PNI’s Headquarters, Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri said that she will review Indonesia’s participation in the resumption of AFTA saying that Indonesia would no longer be standing on its own two feet economically.

10th November 2002:
The President presided over Heroes’ Day commemorations at the Heroes Cemetery in Kalibata, Jakarta and thought he would have the rest of the day off.

But the day was overshadowed by more news from Montenegro where in response to President of Montenegro Milo Dukanovic’s comments two days prior that he had a mandate to hold an independence referendum, President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic ordered the Yugoslav Army to take control of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Dukanovic was nowhere to be found as he appears to have gone into hiding and the Yugoslav Army assumes control in a tense Podgorica where they were already shouting “Down with Milosevic!”. In Washington, President of the United States John McCain condemned Milosevic’s actions and insisted that Dukanovic is the rightful winner of the Montenegrin Elections and in Moscow, President of Russia Yevgeny Primakov called for the situation in Montenegro to be solved peacefully but without the intervention of “outside powers”.

11th November 2002:
In a press conference after his meeting with the President, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ginandjar Kartasasmita said that the government expresses its concerns at developments in Montenegro and reiterated the government’s stance that it hopes the situation there will be solved peacefully considering that the United States and Russia has taken sides in the conflict.

There was a question about Indonesia being mentioned in South Korea’s Presidential Debate where Presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang talked about South Korea using Indonesia to keep China busy so that it does not spend so much time backing North Korea. He mentioned “arming Indonesia” saying that he would push for the 2 Type 1300 Submarines due for delivery in 2008 to Indonesia to be delivered earlier if elected president. His opponent Rhee In-je whilst not agreeing to the “arming” part agreed that Indonesia could be use as a “counterbalance.”

“Our nation is now at a stage where we are increasingly becoming part of people’s calculations”, replied Ginandjar.

Ginandjar was asked about events closer to home, namely the Chinese Communist Party’s National Congress which got under way late the previous week. Ginandjar said that the government is keeping an eye on the event but said that it will work with whoever emerges out of the congress as the General Secretary.

12th November 2002:
Landing at Surabaya, East Java in the morning, the Presidential entourage went to the outskirts of the city. Accompanied by Minister of Public Works Rachmat Witoelar and Governor of East Java Haris Sudarno, the President inaugurated the following:

*The Surabaya-Mojokerto Toll Road
*The Gempol-Pasuruan Toll Road

After a tour of the toll roads, the President and his entourage returned to Surabaya where he inspected the bus rapid transit lanes and shelters being constructed as well as the Surabaya Gubeng Train Station to check its readiness ahead of the Eid Holidays before returning to Jakarta.

At the DPR Building today, Attorney General Soedjono C. Atmonegoro introduced the Anti-Terrorism Bill. He calls for quick passage of the bill in the hope that the Jemaah Islamiyah members arrested in August can be prosecuted under the provisions of a passed Anti-Terrorism Bill.

13th November 2002:
The President’s main meeting today was with Minister of Home Affairs Harsudiono Hartas though it was clear that the discussion was more in relation to the latter’s capacity as Chairman of the PKPI’s MPR Delegation.

Harsudiono said that he had put Siswono and Sarwono in charge of writing the Draft GBHN which was to be adopted by the MPR as the GBHN on the President’s re-election. The President approved of this appointment.

The next item was votes in the MPR. Harsudiono said that the downside of the unanimous vote for the PPP’s Matori Abdul Djalil in his election as chairman of the DPR/MPR is that the amount of votes that each side has cannot be gauged. He then reported to the President about the PPP’s Zarkasih Nur admitting that the PPP could not secure unanimous vote for Matori in the chairman DPR/MPR election.

“So in other words, we got lucky that Hartono withdrew his nomination for chairman of the DPR/MPR?” asked the President.

“Yes, Mr. President” replied Harsudiono “But my sense is telling me the PKPB also don’t want to reveal how many votes it controls or doesn’t control in the MPR. They want to save that for next March.”

Harsudiono reported that even with the PKPI, PPP, and ABRI votes being unanimous it will not carry the President to re-election so it would be necessary to look for votes elsewhere.

“The Regional Delegates is one source of votes and so far only East Java’s Regional Delegates are unanimously committed to voting for you and you can thank Dahlan Iskan for that”, said Harsudiono mentioning the Regional Delegate who also happened to be the CEO of Jawa Pos Newspaper “He has been going around the other country trying to gather votes for you from the other Regional Delegates.”

“What about the Group Delegates?” asked the President.

“The overwhelming bulk want to appear impartial and non-committal as to who they will vote for at the MPR Session”, explained Harsudiono “For the moment we’re better off looking for votes among the Regional Delegates.”

14th November 2002:
A long meeting at the Presidential Palace ended with Minister of Defense and Security Wismoyo Arismunandar, Minister of Industry Siswono Yudohusodo, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Tanto Kuswanto, Minister of Transportation Soerjadi Soedirja, State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Cacuk Sudarijanto, Commander of ABRI Wiranto, and Navy Chief of Staff Djoko Sumaryono.

Siswono began by explaining that the President had signed in their presence a Presidential Instruction on Bolstering Shipbuilding for National Development Purposes. The main provision of this Presidential Instruction, explained Siswono, is the division of the state’s participation in the shipbuilding industry into civilian shipbuilding and naval shipbuilding.

Cacuk spoke next saying that PT. PAL will focus exclusively on naval shipbuilding with PT. Industri Kapal Indonesia focusing on civilian shipbuilding and taking on PT. PAL’s civilian shipbuilding assets. Speaking almost jointly, Soerjadi Soedirja and Tanto said that they will be looking to more civilian ships saying that their two departments are preparing a subsidized shipping scheme so that more goods could be shipped on less lucrative routes and onto more isolated islands to help decrease costs for businesses and prices for consumers in isolated islands.

Speaking for the military side of things, Wismoyo and Wiranto hopes that this “reorganization of responsibilities and roles” will allow for more of the Navy’s equipment needs to be accommodated domestically. Djoko Sumaryono acknowledged the work of PT PAL thus far but made special mention about the contributions of the Maintenance and Repair Facilities of the various naval bases in taking the initiative and producing patrol boats. He said that this reorganization will allow the Maintenance and Repair Facilities on maintenance and repairs as opposed to also partaking in production.

15th November 2002:
The President presided over a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in which he swore in the following:

*Komara Djaja SE., M.Sc., Ph.D as Chairman of the Interdepartemental Team for the Preparation and Implementation of AFTA
*Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Farid Zainuddin as Chief of Lemsaneg
*Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Sridono as Deputy Chief of BAKIN

Watching the ceremony, Chief of BAKIN Ari Sudewo got a lot of attention from the press for what it described as a “reshuffle” in Indonesia’s intelligence community. Ari said that this was a routine rotation of officers in the field of intelligence and that there were no “particular security concerns” on his radar.

Behind closed doors as he briefed both men Ari acknowledged that the reasoning for Sridono’s appointment was the latter’s experience as an intel and then local commander in Aceh in the early 90s and that he wanted Sridono to pay particular attention “increased activity” by both GAM and OPM. While at Lemsaneg, Farid’s duty will be to pick up chatter related to the activities of the two groups.

Later in the day, Megawati Soekarnoputri’s residence at Kebagusan, South Jakarta was lavishly prepared for a special guest who is coming to break his fast. When the guest arrived at the allotted time, Chairman of Muhammadiyah Amien Rais was greeted with cheers by Megawati and her supporters when he emerged out of his car. In between meals, Megawati and Amien made speeches praising each other in particular acknowledging each other’s bravery in standing up to the “previous regime”. To the cameras covering the event after the dinner, Amien said that he and Megawati were just discussing current affairs over dinner.

16th November 2002:
Though the President’s children, childrens-in-law, and grandchildren had gathered at the Presidential Palace to celebrate his 67th birthday and spend the day with him, the President excused himself when his aide-de-camp, Col. Budiman arrived to whisper something in his ear.

When the President arrived at his office, the television was turned on, State Secretary Edi Sudrajat was waiting and Indonesian Ambassador to China Agum Gumelar joined by phone. Agum provided the commentary, how the 16th Chinese Communist Party National Congress had wrapped up the previous day, and that the new Politburo Standing Committee including the general secretary will be formally introduced.

And so it was, with the room applauding them and they themselves applauding, the new Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party entered the room. The President’s eyes were fixed on the man walking at the front of the other Politburo Standing Committee members.

“Tell me about this new person in charge”, said the President.

“The new General Secretary’s name is Luo Gan”, explained Agum’s voice “He’s a protégé of Li Peng who advocated a hardline stance against the Tiananmen Square in 1989 but also acceptable to Jiang Zemin. He’s in charge of the of the security sector and he was the one in charge of the crackdowns on Falun Gong in 1999.”

The President watched as Luo gave his speech, in which he promised among other things that China “will not be afraid to assert its interests near and far”.

“Jiang is not continuing? And not Hu?” asked Edi.

“Jiang has had two full terms as general secretary so they’re clamoring for him to step aside, Mr. President” explained Agum “As for Hu…well, the Party’s calculation has changed and they now need someone more dynamic and who perhaps can be more forceful. No more room for a colourless non-descript leader who’ll just continue existing policies.”

“Someone more suited to the current multipolar environment, in other words?” asked Try.

“Correct, Mr. President”, replied Agum “Of course, it’s not like Jiang was not in favor of multipolarism. It was just the case he was more oriented towards economics. This one…you could probably expect him to throw China’s weight around a little bit.”

Try watched as Luo continued to make his speech when all of a sudden the television was turned off. Try turned around and saw Edi with the remote.

“Let’s not get our priorities mixed up, Mr. President, because I would rather it be you going toe to toe with him than Tutut or Megawati” said Edi “Beat Tutut and Megawati first, then and only then will I allow you to start thinking about that guy.”

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The Type 1300 Submarines due in 2008 is based on a list of possible TNI procurements listed in https://www.google.co.id/books/edit...nard+c+sebastian&pg=PA246&printsec=frontcover

The ITTL version of Tol Laut coming right up. On the Naval shipbuilding side I am a bit vague about it but as in OTL, the ITTL Fasharkan in the various Naval bases also got involved in constructing patrol boats.

Google Sridono and Aceh in google books and you’ll find he gets mentioned quite a bit. A bit of an obscure officer because I can’t seem to find any pictures of him. https://www.google.com/search?q=sri...CwAzgQ_AUoAXoECAEQCw&biw=1280&bih=577&dpr=1.5

Here’s a bio of Luo Gan https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/focus/2004-02/27/content_420273.htm and here’s his Wiki article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luo_Gan

Going to be a bit busy in OTL so will be some time till my next update.

Don’t forget to vote for me in https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...-war-to-contemporary-timeline-poll-ii.539137/

If you feel like you’ve voted for me and you haven’t seen that thread please vote again. Due to a TL not being included in the first poll, another poll had to be set up.
 
Montenegro situation is tangential to both East Timor and Myanmar. For one side, a lack of recognition for Dukanovic generates a situation that sounds similar to Myanmar coup, and for the other, the same Duka asking for independence, like East Timor all over again.
 
It's almost imposible for Hu did not become new president
There are serious problem of bureacracy on PRC and Hu succeed fix it
PRC won't become aggressive before fixing their internal problem
Xi truly lucky because all of internal problem get fixed by Hu
 
I hope Indonesia is more developed in this tl. Not like in otl. Also have a stronger currency.
Indonesia leadership has definetly a way to be heard, and assert its interests and their block (the Jakarta Block) too. Internally the currency is strong and faces the usual opposition that promote populist politics.
 
Anything that came from the government is just awful.
Honestly, as someone from Malaysia who do from time to time follow Indonesia news...is it really that awful though?
Also Indonesia has a national car project but already stopped called Timor. Is this car project still continue in this tl?.
Well, one of the earliest (as in it is on the first page of this thread) Try Sutrisno's decisions as president ITTL is to stop giving National Car Project status to Timor, and due to the way the company was operating led to an investigation and prosecution of Tommy Soeharto (albeit in a different way ITTL when compared to IOTL), which on top of the removal of other concessions set up a still ongoing confrontation between Try's faction and Tutut's faction.
 
206: Milestones
18th November 2002:
President Try Sutrisno tonight attended a fast-breaking event in Yogyakarta which doubled as celebrations of Muhammadiyah’s 90th Anniversary. Also in attendance at the event were Chairwoman of the PKPB Tutut Soeharto and Chairwoman of the PNI Megawati Soekarnoputri. But the three had to play second fiddle to Chairman of Muhammadiyah Amien Rais who drew all of the attention to himself with his speech when he spoke about the upcoming 2003 MPR General Session.

“The time of sole presidential candidates is over and the time of being mobilized to support just the one candidate is over. The nation and all its elements, including the Muhammadiyah, must become free agents. They must not be wedded to the idea that a certain candidate must win but that the best candidate must win”, said Amien.

At the conclusion of the event, the President played it off as “The Chairman of Muhammadiyah having an opinion” when asked if the speech meant that Amien was not committed his re-election. The President also said that when he was in primary school, his school was just down the road from a Muhammadiyah school and that he walked past the said Muhammadiyah school everyday.

The PKPI guests, which included ministers and officials, on the other hand could not hide their displeasure.

19th November 2002:
Speaking on a television morning show, Chairman of the NU Abdurrahman Wahid who attended the previous night’s event only chuckled when asked what he thought about Amien’s comments.

“It’s up to Mas Amien what he says or does *nose twitch*” he said “Doesn’t he get tired jockeying for position all the time, though? *nose twitch* I mean that’s the reason why he made that speech, right?”

At the DPR building, Vice Chairman of the DPR Hartono laughed when he was asked if Amien’s support for President Try was “less than absolute” leading into the 2003 MPR General Session. Hartono only said that it is an interesting development and one that the PKPB will seek to take advantage of.

Hartono would not be drawn on whether or not the PKPB already has the votes to secure Tutut’s election to the presidency. Instead he made fun of the President’s comments saying that President Soeharto actually went to a Muhammadiyah Junior High School as opposed to “merely” walking past it.

20th November 2002:
The President met Governor of BI Boediono, Head of BPKP Sjahruddin Rasul, Head of IBRA Herdiwiyatmo today. He approved of Boediono’s advice that those banks which have completed their BLBI repayments be issued with a notification of payment completion to certify that they have settled their payments. The President added, however, that all the BLBI recipients must be audited by the BPKP first before they are declared to have settled their payments.



Also seen coming to the Presidential Palace for a meeting was Minister of Home Affairs Harsudiono Hartas. After the meeting, Harsudiono announced that the President has approved of the Department of Home Affairs’ plan for various changes in the area of population administration most notably the concept of having a single identification number per person; adding that the government has identified this to be an important area that needs to be improved upon.

The questions however were focused on Amien and whether he could be “relied upon” with the MPR Session just 3 months away. Harsudiono said that the next few months will reveal who the President’s real supporters are and which ones are just opportunists.

21st November 2002:
The President attended a fast-breaking event hosted by the Leader of the PKPI in the DPR Sofyan Lubis today and attended by the PKPI’s DPR Members. Speaking in front of those in attendance, Sofyan expressed the PKPI’s “unwavering and unanimous support” for the President and promised that the PKPI’s members in the DPR will be at the forefront of the President’s re-election effort at the MPR General Session.



In both his capacity as Vice Chairman of the DPR and Chairman of the PKPI, Basofi Sudirman reaffirmed the PKPI’s commitment make sure that “the next five years will be like the last five years” by securing the President’s re-election at the MPR General Session.

For his part, the President thanked Sofyan’s sentiments and said that the PKPI was the one source of support he could always rely upon. Though at one point some pent-up emotion broke through the surface.

“Five years ago when I assumed this office, they only expected me to be a placeholder and they were mistaken”, he began “Then I overcame three challengers at the 1998 MPR General Session and they expected they could undermine me by trying to gain control of the ruling party…Make no mistake. It was they, not us, that was responsible for Golkar breaking up into two.”

There was applause from the audience.

“And now 100 days stands between us and the 2003 MPR General Session”, the President continued “They probably expect me to just be defeated, but will that happen? Will you allow it to happen?”

“No we won’t!”, “Try for President!”, “Try in 2003!” chanted different people in the audience.

22nd November 2002:
The President’s Friday Prayer buddy was Chairman of the DPR Matori Abdul Djalil. After Friday Prayer at the Baitturahim Mosque, the President and Matori walked along the grounds of the Presidential Palace. Their main topic of discussion was Amien’s antiques.

“There is still some less than good feeling from his supporters in the PPP that his proposal that Mr. Harmoko be re-elected as chairman of the DPR with Muhammadiyah member Ali Hardi Kiai Demak re-elected as vice chairman of the DPR, Mr. President”, explained Matori before continuing “And for that matter there’s also less than good feelings from Hamzah Haz and his supporters in the PPP.”

Matori then sheepishly admitted that he was lucky to be elected chairman of the DPR considering he did not have the unanimous support of everyone, even within the PPP, to which the President said he already knew. There was an awkward silence between two.

“What’s Hamzah’s problem, Mr. Chairman?” asked the President.

“The word I’m getting is that he’s trying to gather support within the party to put forward the idea that whoever your vice presidential candidate is, the PPP can only support someone of the majority faith”, replied Matori.

The President scoffed at this.

“I kept my end of the deal, a PPP member is now the chairman of the DPR/MPR”, said the President “I hope the PPP will now keep its end of the deal and support my choice for vice president, whoever that may be. This is only an excuse for him to make some mischief.”

“I don’t disagree, Mr. President”, said Matori “I will do what I can to keep him under control.”

“See that you do, Mr. Chairman”, said the President.

25th November 2002:
The President today met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ginandjar Kartasasmita. The two first discussed the NATO Summit which met and was concluded last week in Prague, Czechoslovakia in which President of the United States John McCain’s expressed his intentions of leading a coalition to remove the President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic and prevent him from potentially committing atrocities against Montenegrins.

Ginandjar explained that the United States and its allies will seek to launch a ground invasion rather “settle” for bombings as it did in 1999. The aim will be to unseat President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic and install a friendly regime as well as securing Milo Dukanovic’s position as President of Montenegro. Dukanovic of course having sought refuge in the United Kingdom after escaping from Montenegro in the wake of Milosevic’s decision to order the Yugoslav Army into Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital.

“Continue to monitor developments” instructed the President.

The other matter Ginandjar wanted to discuss was closer to home. Ginandjar reported that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) looks set to hand down the decision about the dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia over the Sipidan and Ligitan Islands in the very near future.

“How do you think it will go?” asked the President.

“We made a strong argument in our favor saving hostages from extremists in Sipadan back in 2000 but since Prime Minister Najib took over, he’s pretty much instructed their team to play hardball…” said Ginandjar, trailing off in a way that said that the prospects were not so good.

“It was our predecessors who agreed to stand with Malaysia before the ICJ and let it decide the matter, we have to let the chips fall where they may”, replied the President.

26th November 2002:
Matori Abdul Djalil, in his capacity as Chairman of the PPP, hosted a press conference at the PPP National Headquarters. With PPP DPR Member Hamzah Haz beside him, Matori announced that he is appointing Hamzah as the Day-to-Day Chairman of the PPP to assist him with party matters because he will be kept busy with his duties chairman of the DPR/MPR. Hamzah thanked Matori for the appointment and trust and denied any notion that he was wavering in his support for the President.

“The President and the Chairman of the PPP wants to see how I will behave in the lead-up to and during the 2003 MPR General Session”, scoffed Hamzah.

In a television interview on TVRI, Minister of Economics and National Development Planning Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti expressed his great optimism that the Indonesian economy in 2002 will finish strong with two holiday periods in December; the Eid Holidays and then the Christmas/New Year holidays. When asked about how the Indonesian economy will fare in 2003, especially after the 2003 MPR General Session, Dorodjatun said that whoever is in charge after the MPR General Session will have one year left in Repelita VII to carry out before formulating and then carrying out Repelita VIII in 2004 so that, at the very least, the current policies will continue for another year.

27th November 2002:
The President received a visit from Vice President JB Sumarlin who will be departing for Bangkok where ASEAN’s deputy heads of state/head of government will be gathering for an unofficial summit on the next steps to implement the resumption of AFTA. Sumarlin came to say his farewells and receive final instructions but found the President picking his brains about developments from the NATO Summit.

“It's preferable that no military conflict comes out of it, Mr. President”, replied Sumarlin to the President’s questions “Or if this is unavoidable, that there’s no wider military conflict because this is the United States targeting a country that is a Russian ally. Is the goal here to draw the Russians in or what? If we want to build our nation, generate growth, have more trade, implement AFTA and increase living standards, we’ll need generally peaceful conditions in the world.”

28th November 2002:
The fast-breaking at the Presidential Palace this evening had a decidedly military flavor to it. In attendance were Wismoyo Arismunandar and representatives of the ABRI Headquarters and the four branches of ABRI.

ABRI Headquarters was represented by Commander of ABRI Wiranto, Deputy Commander of ABRI Chappy Hakim, ABRI Chief of General Staff Djaja Suparman, ABRI Chief of Socio-Political Staff Djamari Chaniago, Inspector General of ABRI Ryamizard Ryacudu, and Chief of the ABRI Intelligence Agency Amirul Isnaeni

The Army was represented by Army Chief of Staff TB Hasanuddin and Deputy Army Chief of Staff Prijanto; The Navy was represented by Navy Chief of Staff Djoko Sumaryono and Deputy Navy Chief of Staff Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno; the Air Force was represented by Air Force Chief of Staff Ali Munsiri Rappe and Deputy Air Force Chief of Staff Teddy Sumarno; the Police was represented by Chief of Police Ansyaad Mbai and Deputy Chief of Police I Made Mangku Pastika.

The post-dinner meeting was concerned with the ABRI Joint Military Exercise which was scheduled for mid-December and heard a briefing given by the Commander of the Army’s Education and Training Command Syaiful Rizal, who was in charge of the exercise in his role as Director of the Joint Military Exercise.

The scenario envisions “The Enemy” advancing into Indonesian territory and taking over “Kotabesar Kalimantan 1” (Pontianak) and “Kotabesar Kalimantan 2” (Balikpapan). With the Enemy having established defensive positions in the two cities, it will be up to ABRI to take back the cities with the forces at its disposal with a two-pronged attack from the southern end of Kalimantan heading north to the two cities through its dense forests and rugged terrain.

The Army would spearhead the attack through Kostrad, Kopassus, as well as Airborne and Raider-qualified units. In addition to the infantry other branches of the Army such as the cavalry, the artillery, and the engineers would also play their part though all eyes will be keen to see how the nation’s first mechanized infantry battalion would fare.

The other branches would be kept busy too. The Navy’s Kolinlamil will be charged with transporting men and materiel from Medan to southern Kalimantan with the Marine Corps to partake in the advance through the jungle to the two cities. The Amphibious Reconaissance Battalion, the Frogman Command, and the Jalamangkara Detachment will conduct exercises simulating reconnaissance and sabotage of the target cities.

The Air Force too will transport men and materiel to the battlefield. The Paskhas will be in charge of taking the air bases in the target cities.

Last but not least, the Police’s Brimob will also take part in advancing through the jungles en route to attacking and retaking the two target cities.

In the meantime, a joint Navy and Air Force patrol will be based in Natuna Island to patrol and monitor the South China Sea in case “Big Red” comes to the assistance of the the Enemy.

Though Syaiful took questions from the officer present, it was Wismoyo was the one that asked the most questions. The Army’s Education and Training Command was resurrected after a 10 year hiatus in 1994 during Wismoyo’s period as Army Chief of Staff and he got a kick that the institution, through its commander, was getting some recognition.

The President approved of the exercise. Though there was an urban warfare component to the exercise because they had to retake two cities, he was intrigued at the jungle warfare aspect of it and the idea that his men will be marching through jungles in the rain captured his imagination. Wiranto and TB Hasanuddin also focused in on the jungle warfare aspect of the exercise though they were both more careful than the President, both saying that the personnel involved in the jungle warfare portion of the exercise will need to get “the little things” right so they don’t end up with disease.

29th November 2002:
As he arrived at the State Secretariat, State Secretary Edi Sudrajat found himself mobbed by members of the press corps. They were all keen to ask him for comments considering that today was the fifth anniversary of the President’s assumption of office and were curious how the President would mark this significant milestone.

“Generally speaking, the President doesn’t mark the anniversary of his assumption of office considering that he assumed it on the occasion of President Soeharto’s passing”, replied Edi “He has too much respect for our late president to celebrate or mark this day as a joyous occasion.”

The TVRI marked both Soeharto’s passing and the President’s assumption of office by playing a replay of their broadcast of that fateful day. The first news of Soeharto’s death, the arrival of his body at Cendana Street, and the then-Vice President Try Sutrisno invoking the constitution as the justification for his assumption of office.

One scene from that day had been forgotten amidst all that had happened since. It was of Tutut Soeharto standing at the entrance to the Soeharto Residence at Cendana Street surrounded by mourners and cameras as the newly sworn-in President Try Sutrisno arrived. The President allowed the First Lady to convey her condolences and give Tutut a hug.

And then the cameras snapped and the flashbulbs flashed as the President and Tutut hugged each other. Tutut was visibly sobbing into the President’s shoulder while the President whispered words of encouragement as tears streamed down his face.

They looked to the world then like a pair of brother and sister mourning the death of their father. It would never occur to anyone that one day, the constitutional and the biological successors of Soeharto would become fierce rivals. Five years is a long time…

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And five years have elapsed in the TL, ladies and gentlemen...

On Try only walking past a Muhammadiyah School on his way to school and Soeharto actually attending a Muhammadiyah School: https://library.umy.ac.id/news/detail/327/SOEHARTO-BIBIT-MUHAMMADIYAH--Tulisan-I

This one was a tricky one to write. In addition to me being busy in OTL, there was a lot of content to go through: Amien Rais starting to maneuver, the briefing for the ABRI Joint Exercise, and then the five-year anniversary of Try’s assumption of office.

If anybody’s reading between the lines, the scenario of the Joint Exercise without the made-up names involves Malaysia attacking Indonesia and gaining some territory and now Indonesia has to counter attack and regain the territory while keeping watch for the possibility that China would intervene on Malaysia’s side.

The thing about Try and Tutut’s rivalry I wanted to convey is that in another timeline (ie. OTL), they probably would’ve had a close relationship. And so even though they are rivals, they have competing interests etc., there is, at least on Try’s part, a strong feeling of guilt that this rivalry had happened.

Try and Tutut in OTL: https://img.antaranews.com/cache/800x533/2011/06/20110609094355bukusoeharto080611-2.jpg.webp
 
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